“On Sept. 9, a mine inspector in Alabama stumbled upon a large spill from Colonial Pipeline’s large Line 1 pipeline spanning from Texas to New Jersey, the artery and only major source of gasoline deliveries for much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic”. The damaged Line 1 can carry 1.2 million barrels of gasoline per day and runs from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina.
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AAA reported the price of regular gas in Georgia jumped more than 5 cents from Sunday’s average of $2.26 to just over $2.31.
“The shortage appears greater because people are filling up more often so you are certain there is a shortage because there are lines at the station but on average they are only purchasing the quarter of a tank of gas instead of three-quarters”, he said.
Huntsville- $2.06, up 12.2 cents per gallon from last week’s $1.94.
The Colonial Pipeline Company has been scrambling to get it back online.
According to the Georgia Consumer Protection Unit’s website, a two-step process has to occur in order for high prices to be considered gouging. The company said Monday that it is shipping “significant volumes” on the second of the two lines to mitigate the impact of the interruption on the other line.
A representative from Ingles said some of their gas stations in the area were out of gas Saturday morning.
Governors across the South issued executive orders last week to suspend limitations on trucking hours, allowing drivers to stay on the road longer to bring fuel into Georgia.
The national average price for regular gas in the US on Monday is just over $2.20.
Fuel supplies in those five states were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered Colonial to take corrective action.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says he and other officials are working with fuel suppliers to monitor and quickly replenish gasoline supplies.
Once the state of emergency has been declared, the governor then has to issue a freeze on prices for a service or a product for them to be subject to price control, which hasn’t happened yet.
“As of now. we’ve not received any complaints”.
“As of now. we’ve not received any complaints”, Gov. Nathan Deal’s spokeswoman Jen Ryan said in a statement Sunday. It’s unclear when the spill actually began.
This Executive Order will enable Virginia to prevent any potential disruption to gasoline supplies as a result of the temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline.
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Drivers in the Atlanta area found some pumps completely dry or they had to pay 20 cents more because, according to a sign on the pump, the gas had to be pulled from Savannah.
